1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer networks and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for archiving information associated with calls terminating within an enterprise.
2. Description of the Background Art
Voice calls having at least one termination at a computer or computer-related device, such as PC-to-PC or PC-to-phone voice calls, are fast becoming mainstream options, particularly for business communications. This is evident by the popularity of software such as Skype™, and the focus of companies such as Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google on enabling voice communication using their “chat” software (e.g., Yahoo! Messenger with Voice™, Google Talk™, etc.). It is also evident that enterprises must consider how to address this trend in terms of how best to record or archive such calls (e.g., for compliance, analysis, etc.).
Some enterprises have adapted the so-called ‘man-in-the-middle’ approach traditionally used for recording phone-to-phone calls (e.g., TelRex™, CallRex™) and also for instant messaging (e.g., Symantec IMLogic IMManager™). The voice recording is done by tapping the wire (in hardware or software), or on a switch through which the call passes, or by an entity that resides in the middle and acts as a call forwarder. Unfortunately, this approach does not necessarily translate effectively to calls having at least one computer device termination. For example, the software used for implementing such calls at the device termination can be quite sophisticated, such as in terms of protocol, routing, and information ‘hiding’. This makes smooth interaction with the middle-residing entity that much more difficult to achieve. Moreover, such device termination software typically comes with in-built call encryption (e.g., Skype™). In most cases, this would render useless any attempt to record calls using a middle-residing entity. Having a recording entity in the middle also tends to hamper performance, since such calls typically (e.g., on exception being conference calls) tend to be peer-to-peer. There is a need, therefore, to address the above-mentioned problems.